A Rumson resident is facing a maximum prison sentence of more than a lifetime and fines in excess of $1 million in connection with commodities fraud and “spoofing charges” that allege he bilked clients of more than $1.6 million.

Michael Coscia, 52, has been served a 12-count indictment for allegedly “manipulating commodities futures prices,” illegally profiting the near $1.6 million as a result of trading orders he placed through (Chicago-based) CME Group and European futures markets within three months in 2011, a release from the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said.

Coscia, owner of the former Red Bank-based Panther Energy Trading LLC, has specifically been charged with six counts of commodities fraud and six counts of “spoofing,” Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert J. Holley, special agent-in-charge of the Chicago FBI office, announced in the release.

Coscia’s 12-count indictment is the first in the nation of federal prosecutions under the relatively new “anti-spoofing” provision that was added to the Commodity Exchange Act in 2010 by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Spoofing is defined as a form of high-frequency trading, or “a form of automated trading that uses computer algorithms for decision-making and placing a high volume of trading orders, quotes, or cancelation of orders in milliseconds,” the release said.

In this case, Coscia allegedly designed two computer programs he has been charged with using “in 17 different CME Group markets and three different markets on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, including gold, soybean meal, soybean oil, high-grade copper, Euro FX and Pounds FX currency futures, to implement his fraudulent strategy,” or spoofing, the release added.

It is illegal, according to the FBI, for “traders to place orders in the form of ‘bids’ to buy or offers to sell a futures contract with the intent to cancel the bid or offer before execution.”

Coscia’s indictment alleges that he defrauded CME Group and ICE Futures Europe market participants between August and October of 2011.

He allegedly started implementing a high-frequency trading strategy, placing large-volume orders that he allegedly intended to immediately cancel before they could filled by other traders.

“Traders and investors deserve a level playing field, and when the field is tilted by market manipulators, regardless of their speed or sophistication, we will prosecute criminal violations to help ensure fairness and restore market integrity,” Fardon said. “This case reflects the reasons why, earlier this year, we established a Securities and Commodities Fraud Section, which is dedicated to protecting markets and preserving investors’ confidence.”

Coscia, a registered commodities trader since 1988, allegedly devised this “spoofing” strategy to create a false impression about the number of contracts available in the market. This strategy, in turn, fraudulently induced other market participants to react to the deceptive market information he created, the indictment says.

In this case, Coscia allegedly designed his programs to cancel the quote orders within a fraction of a second automatically, without regard to market conditions, even if the market moved in a direction favorable to the quote orders, the indictment says.

“He programmed the quote orders to cancel because he did not intend for them to be filled, but instead intended to trick other traders into reacting to the false price and volume information,” the release added.

The history of Coscia’s case, according to the release:

“His strategy moved the markets in a direction favorable to him, enabling him to purchase contracts at prices lower than, or sell contracts at prices higher than, the prices available in the market before he entered and canceled his large-volume orders, it adds. Coscia then allegedly repeated this strategy in the opposite direction to immediately obtain a profit by buying futures contracts at a lower price than he paid for them, or by selling contracts at a higher price than he paid for them.

“As part of the scheme, Coscia’s trading programs looked for market conditions such as price stability, low volume at the best prices, and a narrow difference between the prices at which prospective purchasers were willing to buy and prospective sellers were willing to sell because his allegedly fraudulent trading strategy worked best under these conditions. His trading programs sometimes placed a ‘ping order’ of one contract to test the market and ensure that conditions would allow his strategy to work well.

“Coscia allegedly designed his trading programs to place a ‘trade order’ on one side of the market, intending that the trade order be filled. He profited from his fraudulent strategy by filling the ‘trade order,’ the charges allege.

“He also designed his programs to place several layers of ‘quote orders’ on the other side of the market from his trade orders ― either to buy contracts at a price higher than the prevailing offer, or to sell contracts at a price lower than the prevailing bid ― to create the illusion of market interest.

“The quote orders would typically be the largest orders in the market within three ticks (the minimum price increment at which a futures contract could trade) of the best bid or offer price, usually doubling or tripling the total quantity of contracts within the best bid or offer price.

“Further, Coscia designed his programs to cancel all fraudulent and misleading quote orders immediately if any of them were evenpartially filled, according to the indictment, because he intended them only to trick other traders into reacting to what appeared to be a substantial change in the market.

“After Coscia filled his trade order through the use of fraudulent andmisleading quote orders, he immediately entered a second trade order on the other side of the market and repeated his steps with misleading quote orders, causing the second trade order to be filled. As a result, Coscia allegedly profited on the difference in price between the first and second trade orders.”

Each count of commodities fraud carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and each count of spoofing carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine, according to the release.

Coscia is slated for arraignment on a date to be determined in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Assistant U.S. Attorney Renato Mariotti is representing the federal government.

An indictment is not a conviction. It is only a formal charge that will be tried in a court of law.

It was two years ago that Sea Bright and low-lying parts of Rumson were ravaged by Hurricane Sandy.

Even after the wind and rain stopped and the Shrewsbury River and ocean parted and drifted back to where they belonged, people were put out of their homes and there was no getting into or out of Sea Bright.

The U.S. Army’s National Guard was called in to help. Sea Bright residents lined up for a shuttle to take them for a small window of time to grab integral belongings from their ruined homes.

Rumson police and the guardsmen blocked the bridge and food, hot beverages were served as emergency clothing was doled out.

It was a surreal scene for all involved.

Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect will feature Sandy photos for the next two weeks, until the lights came back on at the time in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.

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Not only is Halloween approaching, but it’s also a historic time of the year for people in the Rumson-Fair Haven area — the second anniversary of Sandy, the superstorm that crippled the coast.

So, as Rumsonites ready for Halloween, it’s also hard to forget Sandy’s wrath. That was certainly scary enough.

Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect found few decorations in the borough. Take a look and alert us to more (evd@rfhretro.com). In the meantime, notice one Shrewsbury Avenue resident’s creative take on the anniversary and Halloween combined.

Photos by Elaine Van Develde

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The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has chosen Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Supervisor of Guidance Fran Swift to serve as a member of its Professional Development Committee.

Swift, who has been the RFH supervisor since July of 2008, received official notice of her appointment as one of three New Jersey delegates to the NACAC Board of Directors on Sept. 15 . Her three-year term began in late September, after an annual national search conducted in the spring of 2014, and will continue through September, 2017, according to a release from RFH.

Among Swift’s duties is acting as liaison for the Regional Affiliates with which she is paired. Within that partnership, she will promote/present workshops for the national organization, the release said. The organization’s membership consists of 13,000 professionals from around the world.

“The scope of my work will be to communicate best practices to School Counselors and College Admission Professionals in the regional affiliates, and to report the affiliates’ professional development needs to the national organization,” said Swift. “My goal is to help achieve a shared strategic vision for the college admissions process that takes everyone’s perspectives into account, Swift said in the release.

“I saw this as a great opportunity to serve NACAC, as well as to gain valuable information and networking connections that will benefit the student body at RFH.”

Swift is the only appointee from the state selected to serve on the eight-member NACAC Professional Development Committee.

As a member of that group, Swift represents the New Jersey regional affiliate chapter as well as the Dakota, Great Plains, and Rocky Mountains regional affiliates.

Swift is very active in the New Jersey regional affiliate of NACAC (NJACAC) and is one of six national delegates from her state serving as the voice of NJ School Counselors and College Admission Professionals on key initiatives, the release said. Previously she completed two terms (four years) as one of two New Jersey secondary school representatives.

Swift is also a member of the Professional Development Committee for NJACAC. In this capacity, she coordinates the Naviance Users Group, presenting workshops to help school counselors implement an on-line system designed to improve college and career planning.

A former Kindergarten teacher, Swift has worked in high school guidance for 27 years. She serves on the Monmouth County School Counselors Executive Board, where she served as president for nine years.

Swift recently completed a term on the Advisory Board of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, and recently joined the Fairfield University Advisory Board in Connecticut.

Founded in 1937, the National Association for College Admission Counseling is an organization dedicated to serving students transitioning from secondary to postsecondary education.

Members include professional school counselors, college access counselors, admission and financial aid officers and more.

This sea bird was among many that took the chance to hang out, sun themselves and fetch some food while environmentalists cleaned up the beach in Sea Bright at the annual Clean Ocean Action Beach Sweeps.

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OK, Rumson-Fair Haven area friends and fans, there will be festivities to celebrate Halloween this weekend!

First of all, there’s a Fair Haven Halloween Egg Hunt, yes an egg hunt, at the park at Sickles School on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. We have no idea what this really means, other than that Mayor Ben Lucarelli said today that “it’s an opportunity to gather everyone at one spot to celebrate Halloween.”

In addition, the borough is hosting its annual Halloween parade on Sunday at 2 p.m., starting at Knollwood School on Hance Road. Line-up starts at 1:30 p.m.

Also on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. is the Rumson Halloween Parade and Party at Victory Park. There will be all sorts of activities and festivities. Line-up is at 3:15 p.m. There will be a costume contest and prizes and a Mad Science Slime-Making Booth.

Have fun, friends and fans! I’ll see you at the festivities! In the meantime, I offer you a … BOO!

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There are a couple of things going on this weekend that involve learning and giving.

Friday

• Calling all war history buffs! Friday night at 6:30 p.m. there’s unique lantern tour going on at Sandy Hook’s Fort Hancock Museum. All dressed up as authentic U.S. Army coast artillery soldiers, volunteers from the Army Ground Forces Association will lead people on a historic tour of the Fort, featuring Battery Gunnison.

Saturday

• Get your gloves and hard-soled shoes on and help sweep the beaches you frequent clean of debris with Clean Ocean Action.

The organization, headed by none other than Rumson native and current resident and RFH grad Cindy Zipf, is slated to start at 9 a.m. at various locations throughout the state. The sweeps run through 12:30 p.m.

• And on the same day, Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Fair Haven Business Association is asking people to “starve a vampire, feed your neighbor.” The group is sponsoring a blood drive for the Central Jersey Blood Center at the Knights of Columbus Hall at the foot of Third Street (200 Fair Haven Rd.).

Donors must be at least 17, healthy and weigh at least 120 pounds. ID with signature must be presented at the door. Oh, and drink water before you donate.

Sunday

• If you’re in the market for some unique crafts and/or food, hit the Red Bank Farmers Market before the season comes to a close.

The market is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Galleria parking lot.

And, while you’re there, don’t forget to check out Fair Havenites Melanie and David Stewart’s Handmade Haven tent. Read their story here.

If you can think of anything else that’s going on this weekend, let us know at evd@rfhretro.com.

In the meantime, I’ll see you on the beach, giving blood or around the towns somewhere else!

The Fair Haven Knollwood School grads have always been a styling, close-knit crew — a crew of cohorts that’s always shared many Kodak moments, in pairs, trios, cliques and all together.

Just as photography has evolved from Brownie camera to Instamatic to Polaroid, to phone camera, to full-on professional photo shoots, graduation photo ops have devolved back to single inspired family front lawn shots. That’s where the photo blitz usually began. Now it’s where it ends, too. So, some things never really change — much.

It’s an unprecedented graduation time in Rumson and Fair Haven this year. These pandemic days, in Fair Haven, eighth grade students are being met with a diploma, Superintendent Sean McNeil, Knollwood School Principal Amy Romano and a mini front-yard graduation snapshot in time and ceremony. It started this week.

While eighth grade graduations have taken place in various venues over the years, from what was Willow Street School (now Viola L. Sickles School) to Knollwood and then to Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, there’s never yet been a front lawn march to Pomp and Circumstance. Yet, this year’s comes close.

So, in honor of the eighth grade students graduating Knollwood School’s Class of 2020, we take a look back in a reprise of an eighth grade graduation post from June 18, 2018, featuring the Class of 1946.